Several houses were damaged in Rochester, Minnesota, after a tornado was observed in the area on April 17, 2026. (Photo/WCCO TV)
ROCHESTER, Minn. (CBS Minnesota/KFGO) – Dave Vetsch stood in his father’s kitchen in Rochester, Minnesota, on Friday evening, overwhelmed with gratitude that his dad wasn’t home for the moment when a tornado tore the roof off the house and shattered its windows.
“They say it sounds like a freight train and it did,” Vetsch said.
Vetsch said he saw the tornado while next door to his father’s place at his business, when his kids said they had a tornado alert on their phones.
“We stepped out on the loading dock and holy smokes, there was one coming right at us,” Vetsch said.
Observed tornado east of Rochester, Minnesota on April 17, 2026. (Photo/Dan Amundson)
WCCO’s NEXT Weather Team tracked reports of an observed tornado in the Rochester area near the airport on Friday afternoon. Neighbors like Vetsch off Marion Road are convinced that’s what hit their neighborhood, destroying multiple homes.
The Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office says there were no reported injuries but residential properties sustained extensive damage in southern Rochester. WCCO’s crew found houses with side walls that had been torn down, vehicles that had been flipped and garages or sheds that were leveled.
Seeing the damage at his father’s house, Vetsch said he was grateful no one was hurt. His dad had moved to a nursing home last month.
Family members, neighbors and friends worked to fix up what they could. Jennie Murphy, who said her home only suffered minor damage, was out in her neighbor’s yard clearing debris.
“I’m not worried at all. This neighborhood comes out and watches out for each other,” Murphy said.
The National Weather Service said the tornado that hit Marion Road in Rochester was an EF2, with winds of about 130 mph. The NWS has teams surveying the damage in southeastern Minnesota and west-central Wisconsin on Saturday.
The Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office says a temporary shelter has been established for those impacted by the storm at Autumn Ridge Church in Rochester, adding that public safety officials are securing the area and going door-to-door to assess damages.
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